The European Union is warning its member nations and their physicians about the increased suicide risk from patients taking a popular anti-depressant drug known as Seroxat. This drug is said to increase the risk of suicide in young adults, and it is currently being taken by as many as 800,000 people in the UK alone.
The European regulatory agency covering drugs is now issuing a warning to all member nations and recommending that the drug be prescribed with caution to people under the age of 30, noting that "there is a possibility of an increased risk of suicide-related behavior in young adults."
The maker of this drug is U.S. pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, a company that is now facing fraud charges in the United States for concealing information from the FDA about the links between its drugs and suicidal behavior in children. GlaxoSmithKline, of course, denies that its drug causes increased suicides. However, observers who have been watching anti-depressant drugs for several years, such as myself, have noted that, in general, SSRI drugs are frequently linked to violent behavior such as the Columbine massacre in the United States, which was perpetrated by students who were taking anti-depressant drugs.
What's most interesting about this news, however, is the fact that while European countries and doctors are being warned about the suicide risk associated with this drug, in the United States the FDA remains silent on the issue, appearing to be protecting the pharmaceutical industry at the expense of public health. Even when faced with the evidence that GlaxoSmithKline had been concealing negative studies showing this increased risk, the FDA has refused to take any action in terms of banning the drug or requiring stronger labeling to warn doctors about this potential risk.
Clearly this is yet another case where the FDA is looking out for the interests of the pharmaceutical industry -- an industry that it is supposed to be regulating, not promoting. None of this is surprising, however. It is the kind of behavior that is consistent with the position and behavior of the FDA -- an agency that should quite frankly be gutted and its directors prosecuted by the FBI for crimes against the American public.
About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate and award-winning journalist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company. In 2010, Adams created NaturalNews.TV, a natural living video sharing site featuring thousands of user videos on foods, fitness, green living and more. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also the CEO of a highly successful email newsletter software company that develops software used to send permission email campaigns to subscribers. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, martial arts and organic gardening. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org
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Wednesday, July 28, 2004
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